End FGM in Nigeria — Vote in the law to stop the cutting of girls in Cross River State!

My name is Gift Augustine. I am a trained Nurse from Cross River State, Nigeria, and now a full-time activist to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in my home country.

During the time when I was still working in a hospital, I treated many women who had complications during childbirth: obstructed labour, vesicovaginal fistulas, and C-sections — and I saw mothers dying during labour. I realised that these complications were mostly a result of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a traumatic and harmful practice these women had to go through in the past. This was a turning point in my life: I became an activist, and together with my husband, Abu, we started our campaign to #EndFGM.

Nigeria has passed a federal law to ban FGM in 2015 — but the practise continues, and girls are still being cut across the country. Female Genital Mutilation does not have any health benefits to the girls and women — the opposite is the case: The practise is painful, barbaric, and traumatic. The effects on the psychological and physical health of the victims are severe, and they are permanent. Female Genital Mutilation is an extreme form of child abuse. It discriminates and is a violation against the human rights of women and girls.

Nigeria has banned Female Genital Mutilation in 2015. Now we need Cross River State to vote in the law, and help end FGM in our communities. Let's come together and make this happen. I won’t stop doing what I am doing until we have reached our goal, until Female Genital Mutilation is gone for good. But I will need your support.

Please join me in calling for the Governor of Cross River State and the Speaker of the House of Representative of Cross River State to take action. Please sign my petition now. Thank you.